A Month to Mend
by AceAmir
Summary: He wasn't the nicest guy around, but Lyam Williams did have a soft spot for pokemon. A co-worker asks Lyam to watch her newly adopted Riolu while she's out of town for a month. Unfortunately, this Riolu was rescued from abusive owners and is terrified of the world around him. Is there anything Lyam and his Raichu, Ron, can do to help? (Being rewritten)
1. Day 0

**Obligatory Disclaimer:** This is a non-profit fan work set in the Pokemon Universe. Pokemon is owned by Nintendo, Gamefreak, and HAL Laboratories. With the exception of original characters, I own none of the characters or settings used in this story.

* * *

 **Day 0:**

The door creaked open into the cramped Lumiose City apartment. Clutter was strewn across the floor. Dishes from last night's dinner sat unattended on the table. A mess of wires and controllers and game discs sat underneath a modestly sized TV in the corner. It wasn't an utter mess, but it was definitely the home of a bachelor, and said bachelor entered with a tired sigh and slammed the door behind him.

From the corner of his couch stirred a Raichu, peacefully asleep but awoken by the loudness of his master's entrance. The orange rodent squeaked a hello and promptly curled back up. The young man smirked. "Lazy bastard," he said affectionately as he sauntered over to pet his pokemon. Tan skinned fingers scratched an orange back with brown stripes, and then a cream-colored belly when the Raichu rolled over. The hand withdrew itself and scratched beneath shoulder-length black hair, suddenly itching in that inexplicable way the head itches when scratching something else.

The man's name is Lyam Williams, an eighteen year old Kantoan man with tan skin, dark hair, and green eyes that worked at the crappy electronics store five blocks down. Born and raised in Kalos, he attempted a pokemon journey four years ago but decided the adventuring life just wasn't for him. And so he ended up in Lumiose, working a job he could barely tolerate, with little in the way of friends and too far-removed from his family to visit.

At least his Raichu, Ron, was good company. The lazy doofus refused to accept melancholy, and every day Lyam came home the literal rat-bastard would do whatever it took to make him smile. Lyam's normal routine was to saunter into his room, change out of uniform, throw something in the microwave, and then lounge in front of the TV until he decided to play his WiiU or do some chores. Not today. Today was a little different.

Ron seemed to sense this change and titled his head curiously. Lyam shot him an assuring smile. "Don't worry buddy, it's nothing serious. I'd just like to introduce you to someone." The Raichu gasped as Lyam reached into his pocket and pulled out a small red-and-white pokeball. It enlarged with the press of a button, and another released a torrent of white light. The light materialized into something small with blue and black fur. Its body structure was that of a small child, but its head was distinctly canine. Two bright red eyes stared nervously at its summoner while two blue paws clutched its tail nervously. The young Riolu was deathly afraid and regarded everything warily.

Lyam raised his hand. He was going to wave, but when he lifted his lanky arm the small pokemon shrieked and ran into the bedroom. Lyam looked at his hand and groaned. Right, she'd told him the Riolu was afraid of being hit. Lyam promptly used his upturned hand and smacked his face. How the hell did he manage to get talked into this…?

It started with a chat with Lisa earlier that day. His red-headed, normally bubbly, energetic, sassy and carefree co-worker approached him with an unusual air of gravity. That should have been his first warning. "Hey Lyam, could I talk to you for a moment?"

Lyam looked up from his work on a motherboard—his job was mainly to fix returned electronics that were always mysteriously damaged in a way that didn't void the warranty—and regarded the girl with the barest outlines of a frown. He didn't like talking to people, and he especially didn't like talking to her. She quite plainly exhausted him, not to mention their botched attempt at a date made talking to her awkward. "What's up Lisa? 'Bit busy at the moment," he said evenly.

The redhead fidgeted silently for a moment. This didn't earn her any brownie points. "I was wondering…could you please do me a really, _really_ big favor?"

Lyam raised an eyebrow. "That depends on the favor. What's going on?"

Lisa fidgeted a moment longer, as if debating whether or not to take a plunge. She sighed, became resigned with whatever it was, and said, "I'm leaving Lumiose City for about a month. My mother just got over being really sick and I need to look after her while she recovers." Lyam nodded, signaling he understood thus far. "I recently adopted a Riolu from a local shelter. He was rescued in a raid—illegal breeding operation down south, really horrible living conditions. He was abused and I'm trying to rehabilitate him."

Lyam suspected he knew were this was going but played dumb anyway. "I'm guessing you're taking Riolu with you then?" he said.

Lisa shook her head. "That's the problem, I can't. I'm going to be so busy taking care of my mom I won't have time to properly pay attention to him. I've had him for about a week now, and this was sprung on me yesterday. I can't get anyone else I trust to take care of him while I'm gone."

Lyam nodded. "Why me though? We're not exactly close, and I'm pretty sure you don't see me as the 'cuddly' type."

Lisa's mouth curled into a soft smile. "You seem to really care about pokemon. I remember during our…rather _poorly conceived_ date how much you got along with your Raichu." Her smile became rueful. "It's a shame you aren't as nice to people as you are to pokemon, otherwise maybe we could have gotten along better."

Lyam grunted. He knew he was prickly, but she was an overbearing, energy-draining, judgmental _bitch_. None of this, of course, had been realized until she started listing off all the different ways Lyam should go about changing his life and conforming to her standards of quote-unquote "proper" behavior. Relationships were a two-way street, Lyam thought, and _oh_ , Arceus _help_ the poor bastard who gets saddled with you.

She was right about him and Ron though; when he was ten years old, he got the little rat-bastard as an even _littler_ Pichu. Lots of bonding later and he eventually evolved into a Pikachu, and on Ron's eighth birthday Lyam bought him a Thunder Stone and evolved him into a Raichu.

Lyam considered her request. On one hand, he didn't really want another pokemon, _especially_ one that had been abused. On the other hand, he didn't like the idea of it having to live with this twit, especially if by her own admission she couldn't take care of it. His accursed bleeding heart won out, and he reluctantly agreed to watch the pokemon until she came back. She thanked him, hugged him, and gave him Riolu's pokeball.

Back in the present, Lyam considered what to do. He'd done a little reading about abused pokemon at the end of his work day, and most articles said not to be aggressive and let the pokemon come to you for food or attention. Good advice and all, but it didn't stop the Riolu from tearing up his shit in the meantime.

Ron got up from his spot on the couch and stared at his trainer with a look that was a cross between amused and baffled. The Raichu squeaked something, and somehow Lyam knew he was asking what was wrong with the Riolu. "He came from a pokemon mill and was abused by the people that ran it," Lyam explained. Ron squeaked another question. "No, I don't know how long he's going to be hiding." The Raichu furrowed his brows and squeaked a little more critically. "Look, I don't know why I brought him here. That co-worker I went on the date with came up to me today and asked me to watch him for a few weeks because apparently she can't take care of him right now. I should have just told her to take him back to the pokemon shelter…"

With a loud sigh, Ron jumped off the couch and yelled into Lyam's bedroom. Apparently, whatever he said was enough to coax the Riolu to slowly peek out from behind the door and shuffle his way back into the living room. Ron squeaked encouragingly and the Emanation pokemon chose to stand by the larger rodent and avoid eye contact with Lyam.

The Kantoan man shrugged; at least the Riolu wasn't hiding anymore. He sauntered into the bedroom, changed out of his uniform and into something more comfortable, and returned to the living room-kitchen combination and started dinner. Ron was back on the couch, and the Riolu sat beside him tense and nervous.

Lyam scowled, but made sure to do so where the Riolu couldn't see him. Whatever those breeders did to him, it made the pokemon absolutely _terrified_ of the world around him. Indignant anger built up inside, but was immediately dispelled by a low whimper. He turned around and saw Riolu staring at him fearfully from the arm of the couch. Oh shit, right, they were the _Emanation_ pokemon; they could sense emotion. _Fuck._

A loud sigh, and then he put a frozen entrée in the microwave. "I'm not mad at you," Lyam explained while absentmindedly starting the machine. "Really, I promise I'm not going to hurt you." He did his best to smile and look happy, but Riolu was skeptical. Ron put in his own two cents, and that seemed to assure the Riolu for now.

A loud _ding_ from the microwave signaled dinner was ready. Lyam first brought over two bowls of pokemon food, then went back and retrieved his own dinner before flopping onto the couch and flipping on the TV. Ron dug into his own portion with gusto while the Riolu ate slowly, occasionally taking a moment to look over at his host with careful eyes. Lyam didn't notice, too absorbed in the latest episode of The Pokemon Whisperer and his own dinner.

Lyam considered something. "Hey Riolu," he said and turned to look directly at the pokemon, "how do you feel about a nickname?" Riolu tilted his head curiously and Lyam got the impression he wanted to know why he was asking. "I figure if you're going to live with me for a while, I should call you something other than 'Riolu.'" He patted his Raichu and added, "Ron here has a nickname, so I thought maybe I'd give you one too."

The little Emanation pokemon thought it over. He hesitantly nodded "yes" and Lyam reflected on what he'd call the little guy. Let's see, blue fur, canine, fighting type, red eyes…not "Ruff"…not "Ryu"… _definitely_ not "Roo!" He groaned—annoyed by his inability to come up with cool, meaningful nicknames; there _was_ a reason his Raichu was named _Ron_ of all things. Ron…Riolu…Rio? Yeah, Rio…that could work. He recalled the name meant "river," and both Riolu and water were blue…which, admittedly, was a _lame_ reason for choosing the nickname but he liked the way it punned with his species name.

Lyam afforded himself a rare grin. "Alright, I think I've got it!" he said with a snap of the fingers. "Riolu, what do you think about the nickname 'Rio?'" The Riolu stared at him with a look that conveyed he wasn't particularly impressed. He shrugged though and seemed resigned to the silly nickname. "Rio it is then!"

The newly christened Rio shifted a little further into the couch arm. Ron frowned and moved to sit beside him, squeaking something encouragingly. Rio replied with a low bark, whimpered slightly, and was pat on the head by the Raichu. Ron squeaked again, pointing at his owner and seemingly trying to talk him into something. Lyam watched the scene with mild amusement.

At Ron's insistence, the little Riolu crept across the couch and made himself sit next to Lyam. The Kantoan looked at Rio, and then at Ron, who made a gesture with his forepaws that seemed to beckon "Go on then." Lyam carefully raised a hand, mindful of the Riolu's fearful gaze, and gently, carefully lowered it to pet his head…

Rio freaked out at the last second and jumped off the couch, running away and hiding in the bedroom again. Ron was about chase after him when Lyam said, "Leave him alone Ron. You can't cheer everyone up all the time, buddy." The Raichu growled stubbornly but relented and sat beside his trainer with a squeaky sigh. "Yeah, I know, I don't like seeing him upset like that either. Just…give him some time, he'll eventually come around."

At least, that's what Lyam _hoped_ would happen. Truth be told, he didn't know what he was doing and felt he'd made a huge mistake in agreeing to watch Lisa's Riolu. Yeah, sure, he got along with Ron, but that's because they complimented each other so well. Where Lyam was perpetually grumpy, Ron was unwaveringly happy. Where Lyam was aloof and reserved, Ron was personal and in-your-face. Where Lyam was hard-working and serious, Ron was lazy and carefree. They both enjoyed the mutual balance they brought to one another and it was what made their bond so strong.

This Riolu though: emotionally damaged, always frightened, in need of someone who could smother him in kindness and understanding? Lyam had absolutely no _fucking_ idea how to handle that! One month, he told himself. He just had to get through one month without scarring him any further, and then he could turn him back over to his obnoxiously bubbly co-worker who could do a far better job of giving this pokemon the attention he needed.

The rest of the night was uneventful. Lyam watched TV, picked up his trash, and went to bed. Ron found Rio hiding under the bed and despite his coaxing the little Riolu was determined to sleep there for the night. Ron regretfully obliged and hopped on top of the bed to snuggle beside his owner. Lyam scratched the chubby little rodent's back and flinched when he heard a sad whimper. With a loud sigh, he asked Ron if he could sleep with Rio for the night. Ron agreed and scampered under the bed, and the whimpering mercifully died away. Lyam turned on his side and drifted into a light, troubled sleep.

* * *

 **Author's Note:** All aboard the Feels Train! Choo-choo _motherfuckers!_

To be honest, I'm not sure how far I'm going to take this. It was born of a random idea and the urge to write drama/fluff/random stuff with worrying about an overly complicated overarching plot. As a result, this story will have a more ecliptic update schedule than others. Basically future chapters will be collections of snippets—some long, some short—that take place on a given day in the titular month.

So anyway, do me a favor and let me know what you thought in a review. Until next time, take care!


	2. Day 1

**Day 1:**

The next morning was uneventful. Lyam got up, brushed his teeth, showered, put on his work uniform, set out food for the pokemon, and promptly left. The Riolu found it strange he'd not been put back in his pokeball, but then remembered the Raichu and figured the human assumed he'd keep an eye on him. Said Raichu lumbered over and greeted him cheerfully, using the name given to him last night. It was then that it finally sunk in that "Rio" was to be his name now.

" _You know, I'm not sure I particularly like that name…"_ Rio said.

Ron shrugged. _"Eh, I thought 'Ron' was a pretty lame choice when he named me. It grows on you though. At least he put some thought into yours."_ The orange Mouse pokemon lumbered off towards his beloved couch, hopped onto a cushion, and curled up to take a nap.

Well, so much for watching him. Rio looked at the door to the apartment and considered escape. It would be easy enough—the human was gone and Ron was napping—but what exactly would he do? Being tied to the human's pokeball meant nobody else could capture him, but he knew nothing about living in the wild. Of course, that was assuming he could find his way out of the city and get to the wild in the first place.

It still might be better than living with the human. Ron spent a considerable amount of time last night trying to assure him the human was really nice and would never hurt him. He didn't buy it. The human might have acted nice last night, but he could feel emotions and he still remembered that moment of intense rage. The humans that hatched him were nice too, but only when they wanted something from him. Then, if he didn't do what they said, or he misbehaved, or sometimes just when one of them was in a foul mood, they _hurt_ him...they grabbed him and threw him around and yelled at him and raised their hand, clinched into a tight fist, and—

Rio fell to the floor and grabbed at his head with his paws, as if somehow it would allow him to better handle the horrible memories. He wasn't even aware of the tears falling down his face, or the whimpering sobs that escaped his throat.

Ron's ear twitched, and he groggily looked up from behind the couch to see what all the fuss was about. He saw Rio on the floor, crouched in the fetal position, crying and whimpering. Raichu frowned, concerned, and promptly ran to the disturbed pokemon. _"Hey, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"_ Ron asked while placing a paw on the Emanation pokemon's shoulder.

Rio twitched and regarded the Raichu with watery red eyes. He sat up and said, _"I don't know what to do! I want to leave, but I don't know how to live in the wild. I'm scared of meeting wild pokemon, I'm scared of running around in the city, but I'm also scared of staying here."_ Rio buried his face into his arms and whimpered.

Ron groaned. He'd already tried to explain several times now that Lyam wouldn't hurt him, but Rio seemed determined to believe otherwise. It was frustrating, but at the same time it made him really sad. He sat beside the smaller pokemon and put an arm around his shoulder. _"I already told you, nothing's going to happen_. _I've known Lyam since I was a Pichu, and he's my best friend and a good person, once you get past all the grump. Those humans you lived with before, the breeders—most humans aren't like them."_

Rio listened to what the Raichu said but didn't believe any of it. If they weren't all alike, then why did the humans who took him away put him in a pokeball and leave him alone for several months? Why did the lady who adopted him leave and give him away to someone else, to some other human who was cold and distant and had the really horrible anger that he tried to hide?

Ron saw the look on Rio's face, that look that indicated he didn't still didn't believe him. Time for a different approach. _"Okay, how about I put it to you this way,"_ Raichu began and paused to make sure he had the Riolu's full, undivided attention. _"Nothing will happen because I won't_ let _it happen. Let's say something goes wrong. Up is down, the sky is purple, Tepigs are flying, and Lyam loses his mind and tries to hurt you._ This _is what will happen to him."_ Ron released Rio, looked at an empty soda can on the table, and blasted it with a Thunderbolt. It promptly flew across the room, charred black and partially melted, before landing with a light _tink_ on the floor.

Rio blinked. _"You're going to melt him and turn his skin black?"_ he asked.

Ron did a double take. _"Er, no_ ," he said while restraining a chuckle, amused by how overly literal Rio was. _"I mean, I'd zap him, but he wouldn't turn black or melt or anything… Anyway, the point is that if he, or anyone else for that matter, ever tried to hurt you I'd stop them. If you don't trust Lyam then at least trust me."_

Rio considered that. He looked at Ron, then at the metal smoking on the floor and realized that as a fully evolved pokemon Ron must be really strong. He slowly nodded and said, _"Thank you. I think I actually feel a little better now…"_

Ron pat his new friend on the head. _"Glad to hear it! Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a nap to get back to."_ The orange rodent returned to his couch and did just that, and Rio decided to hop up on the cushion next to him. He watched Ron for a little while, chest rising and falling rhythmically, and realized he wouldn't mind a nap himself. He curled up next to the orange roadent, who stirred for a moment and unconsciously pulled him into a hug, and together the two pokemon fell asleep.

* * *

The store Lyam worked at was a part of a larger chain that dealt with things such as Holocasters, TVs, TMs, pokeballs, games, movies, cameras, and other generic electronics. The staff size was small, so naturally Lisa leaving would have an effect. She normally handled the customer service-slash-return desk, a job well suited to the bubbly, personable woman.

Lyam was not a people person. He knew this, his co-workers knew this, and even his boss knew this. His talents were fixing broken shit, figuring out why the shit was broken, and occasionally being called upon to explain to an unruly customer why it was their fault their shit was broken in the first place ("No, our return policy does not cover 'accidentally sat on by pet Snorlax and then coated in Goomy slime.'") Thus, anyone of any modicum of intelligence would have known putting him in a position where he dealt with people all day was, to put it kindly, _counterintuitive._

So naturally his boss chose Lyam to take over for Lisa. Despite his protests and the argument he would accumulate a huge backlog, his boss insisted it had to be Lyam because his workstation was close and anyone else would have to go back and forth across the store too much. He was assured it was only until they found another employee, and that he would be compensated accordingly.

Lyam refrained from quipping that a large enough amount of money didn't exist.

And so he found himself at the return desk, forced to fake an air of cheerful, polite calm. As the day drug on and Lyam dealt with a continuous stream of inane excuses, it became increasingly difficult to maintain. Certain choice words came to mind as he dealt with each customer.

"So, like, I have no idea how it happened but—"

 _Kill. Death. Murder. Destroy._

"When I got home, it wasn't working right so I banged it a few times and—"

 _Incinerate. Eviscerate. Annihilate. Obliterate._

"I got this as a gift from a friend and I don't have the receipt, but you can still give me a refund, right?"

 _Exterminate._ _**Exterminate!**_

Despite the internal inferno of his near-homicidal rage, Lyam outwardly gave nothing away. In-between customers, he retreated to the sanctity of his workstation in the back room, disturbed only when the dreaded chime of the customer service bell summoned him.

Lunch would have been a welcome reprieve, but Lisa—chatty woman that she was—mentioned to another coworker that Lyam was watching her Riolu. Naturally, everyone else soon knew and wanted to know how the little guy was getting along with their infamously grumpy and solemn coworker. Lyam dutifully answered their questions, explained he was well aware of the Riolu's situation, and assured everyone he knew what he was doing. The last part was a blatant lie, but no reason to make them fuss any more than necessary.

After lunch, the rest of his day was more of the same, and by its end he was emotionally drained. He mused on that, how his personality made it tiring to talk to people he didn't know or care for. During his walk back home, Lyam thought about the customers he'd served that day and begrudgingly admitted to himself that, honestly, they weren't really _that_ bad and that he was just annoyed because he was forced out of his element. The realization made him feel guilty for the few times he'd slipped and been too curt with someone. It was a pain in the ass to be self-aware and self-critical of one's own mind, but he put up with it because if nothing else it kept him from turning into a full-blown asshole. For a man critical of the world and everyone in it, it was only fair he hold himself to the same standards he held everyone else.

Lyam entered his apartment and made straight for his bedroom. Ron stirred from his spot on the couch, mindful not to wake the Riolu curled next to him, and ran off to see what his trainer was doing. He found the Katoan man face-down on his bed, not even bothering to change out of his work uniform, grumbling unintelligently to himself.

Ron hopped on the bed and squeaked a hello. Lyam turned just enough to look at him and said, "Hey bud. Long day at work. I'll take care of dinner in a moment, I just need to lay down." Ron nodded. He knew Lyam well enough to know that "long day" translated to "People have been in my space for too damn long and I need some time to myself." He pat his trainer on the shoulder and scampered back into the living room.

After about half an hour, Lyam got up, changed into his normal clothes, and came into the living room. Rio was up now, and Lyam realized he'd caught a brief glimpse of him napping with his Raichu. Said Raichu sat on the floor facing him, food bowl in front, impatiently tapping his foot on the ground. It was just an act of course—it was subtle, but Lyam could tell by the way he held himself and the slight curl of his mouth that Ron was just trying to cheer him up by being silly and overly dramatic. Lyam rolled his eyes and smiled. "Sorry to keep you waiting. How unkind of me to deny food to a specimen as obviously malnourished as you."

Rio tilted his head. Ron didn't _look_ malnourished…if anything, he was on the chubby side, even for a Raichu. He vocalized his confusion and Ron snickered and explained Lyam was being sarcastic. The food bowl was picked up and Lyam went ahead and prepared dinner for the pokemon before fixing his own. It was only fair; he _had_ made them wait after all. Lyam handed a bowl to each pokemon, then returned to the kitchen and fixed his own food. He noticed the remains of a soda can, charred black and partially melted, and picked it up. Weird… He stole a glance at Ron and wondered if or why he would zap the can, but decided it probably wasn't important and threw the can away.

Five minutes later and the microwave dinged. Lyam grabbed his food, sat on the couch, turned on the TV, and started his meal. He noticed out of the corner of his eye that unlike last night, Rio sat between him and Ron, as opposed to behind Ron and as far into the couch arm as possible. Huh, that was odd. He shuffled in place, subtly putting himself closer to Rio, and watched. The Riolu noticed, but didn't move. Interesting… He finished his food, sat aside his plate, and placed his hand on the cushion. Rio reacted this time and shifted towards Ron, now carefully watching him and probably reading his emotions. He pretended not to notice, never turning his head to actually _look_ at him and relying on peripheral vision only.

Lyam inwardly smirked. No, Rio still didn't like him, but he was at the least more comfortable with the idea of being _near_ him. Probably had something to do with Ron—the little rat bastard _did_ have an entire day to convince the blue pup that Lyam wasn't evil incarnate. Maybe Ron promised to protect him? Suddenly, the blackened can made sense…Ron must have demonstrated that he would protect Rio. He was still scared of him, but less so now that he had someone watching his back.

It was all rather amusing to him. Lyam didn't necessarily _like_ people, but he understood them rather well. In his experience, pokemon weren't much different. In a way, they were more interesting because their only tools for communicating were body language and tone of voice. It was like a puzzle, a constantly changing puzzle he could throw himself into and take satisfaction in solving on the fly.

Lyam smiled, and then chuckled when he realized Rio must be terribly confused about the emotions he was sensing. Curiosity, satisfaction, amusement, and now relief—yes, Lyam was relieved, because in just one day the little Riolu he'd agreed to shelter for a month that was terrified of the world was, at this moment, at least comfortable enough to share the couch with him. It gave him hope that everything would work out in the end.

The rest of that night came and went. Rio tried to sleep underneath the bed again, but this time Lyam suggested to Ron that instead they use the couch in the living room. The orange rodent agreed and escorted his younger charge into the other room. Lyam smiled and blessed his lucky stars he had such a kind hearted pokemon. He'd be sure to sneak him off to the side and shower him in Poffins.

It occurred to him that tomorrow was a Friday, and after that they'd have the whole weekend together. He'd have to come up with something special for them to do together…

* * *

 **Author's Note:** Aaaaand, that's the second chapter. Lyam's such a charming fellow... Oh well, he'll grow out of it eventually. Maybe.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed and be sure to let me know what you thought!


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